The known and expected nonconference opponents could help the Boilermakers learn about themselves as they replace three starters.

Story Highlights

Purdue will play a home game against Texas after playing at Austin last season.

The Boilermakers will play in the Emerald Coast Classic with Florida State, Tennessee and VCU.

Purdue will play in both the Gavitt Games and the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue basketball's early-season road demands helped pave the way to the program's first Elite Eight berth in 19 years.

One cannot say for sure that Purdue would not have unloaded on Villanova or slipped past Tennessee without those lessons learned against Virginia Tech, Florida State and others. However, the Boilermakers themselves said those experiences helped them transform into the team that came within seconds of a long-sought Final Fourth berth.

While details of the 2019-20 schedule remain incomplete, the known portions indicate a Purdue team replacing three starters will again face a stacked early slate.

Boilermakers center Matt Haarms (32) looks to pass to guard Nojel Eastern (20) as Virginia Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome (11) and forward Mamadi Diakite (25) defend during the first half in the championship game of the south regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum Center.(Photo: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)

Of Purdue's 31 regular-season games, 22 opponents are known, and six other games come in conjunction with the Emerald Coast Classic, Gavitt Games and Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Three other nonconference home games have yet to be announced.

Last season, Purdue scheduled unaffiliated home games with Fairfield, Robert Morris, Ohio and Belmont — a mix of lower-division "buy game" fodder and challenging mid-majors. Belmont, who at No. 49 had a better Ken Pom ranking than four of Purdue's Big Ten opponents, won in the NCAA tournament's First Four and lost a buzzer-beater to Maryland in the first round.

► Thanksgiving challenge: In each of the past two seasons, exempt tournament competition gave Purdue an important early-season mirror.

We don't yet know who the Boilermakers will face at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla. One can already see, however, how Nov. 29-30 could again be a pivotal weekend for the direction of a season.

Will organizers try to set up a rematch with Tennessee, either directly in the opening round or as a possible championship game? The Boilermakers' Ryan Cline-led 99-94 overtime victory in the Sweet 16 in Louisville avenged a November 2017 loss to the Volunteers in the Bahamas. If Tennessee does not lose Jordan Bone and Grant Williams to the NBA draft (both have kept the door open for a return), it will again be among the best teams in the SEC.

Much of Purdue's progression to an Elite Eight-worthy team came from learning how to beat teams such as Tennessee and Florida State. The Seminoles, who surged past the Boilermakers at home in November, are also in this tournament field. Trent Forrest and MJ Walker return, and Florida State's six-man recruiting class is ranked No. 15 in that 247Sports composite.

VCU has never matched the success of 2011, when it dispatched Purdue en route to a surprise Final Four berth. But the Rams, who won the Atlantic 10 regular season championship last season, should be one of the most experienced teams in the country.

All of those are potentially tough matchups for a team that may still be settling into an identity in the opening weeks. All are also the kind of games which made recent Boilermaker teams better by the time they got to March.

While Purdue played three neutral-site games and one at home in conjunction with these tournaments the past two seasons, these two-and-two splits may increase as more conferences switch to 20-game schedules. Programs want to get one of those home gates back if possible.

► Marquee matchups: We know Texas will visit Mackey Arena, in return for the Boilermakers' trip to Austin last season. That Dec. 9 win over Purdue stood up as one of the best of the season for the Longhorns, who missed the NCAA tournament but won the NIT championship.

Texas loses senior Kerwin Roach and freshman Jaxson Hayes, who has declared for the NBA draft and is considered by some a lottery prospect. Matt Coleman, who scored 22 against Purdue, and Courtney Ramey return, and the 247 Sports composite ranks the Longhorns' incoming recruiting class as No. 14 nationally.

No loss helped shape the team Purdue eventually became last season more than the Crossroads Classic setback against Notre Dame. Butler currently projects as a similar opponent — modest in expectations but infused with enough institutional grit and veteran talent (Kamar Baldwin, etc.) to upend a vulnerable opponent.

Purdue does not yet know its opponents for the Gavitt Games (expected to be on the road) or the ACC/Big Ten challenge (likely at home). Those matchups are made for (and by) television, so the quality of opponent may in part depend on outside perceptions of the Boilermakers. Looking at recent Purdue opponents in those events — Villanova and Marquette from the Big East, Florida State and Louisville from the ACC — one can reasonably expect another team expected to contend in the top half of its league.

► Big Ten 20: It can be dangerous to predict the difficulty of a team's conference schedule six months out under normal circumstances. More lenient NBA draft exploratory rules make that even more difficult this summer. Clarity won't come until prospects make their decisions whether to return to school or remain in the draft.

However, the Boilermakers did appear to catch a couple of breaks with home-only draws against both Michigan State and Minnesota. USA TODAY put the Spartans No. 1 on its way-too-early top 25 immediately after the championship game. The Gophers should also be a top 25 team, pending Amir Coffey's NBA decision.

On the other hand, Maryland and Ohio State are both expected to contend at the top of the league, and Purdue only faces those teams on the road.

One big wrinkle is which teams Purdue draws for the early December portion of the Big Ten schedule. Opening against Michigan on the road last season did not do the Boilermakers any favors. Will next season's team come together quickly enough to handle a similar early challenge?